


The Heroine

by FreeWrite



Series: The Heroine [1]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: 5 Things, Alternate Universe, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-05 17:03:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11582406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreeWrite/pseuds/FreeWrite
Summary: "Above All, be the heroine of your life, not the victim" - Nora Ephron. 4 times Emily Prentiss rescued herself from Ian Doyle and 1 time she didn't - a series of AU one shots.





	1. Seven

**Author's Note:**

> This didn't start as a 5 things... it actually started as just a one shot AU from "Lauren" which branched out as I wrote it. Each story is self contained and ranges from 200 to 6000 words. Yes I am aware that there are some minor canonical inconsistencies, particularly with Emily's age. This is not a mistake, but a choice. For those who don't catch it Italics are flash backs, bold is text messaging.
> 
> Feedback is welcome, flames will be used to warm my cold and bitter soul.
> 
> Finally I'm working on a full length version of story 3 "Minus Eight Thousand" and am looking for a beta. Please PM me if you're interested.

_They watched as she crossed the road at a low run. Without hesitation she tossed something through an open window and crouched down protecting her ears, seconds later there was a flash and smoke billowed out. She moved with an unexpected confidence and handled the automatic weapon as though it was part of her. None of the team had ever seen this side of Emily Prentiss, Rossi realised quickly that they weren't watching their friend and co-worker. They were watching Lauren Reynolds, arms dealer._

_They found the secret she was really protecting and with that the warehouse, but they were too late. They missed them by maybe an hour._

_Blood and hair proved he had held Emily there but where Ian had taken her after that they didn't know._

_Weeks turned into months and though the odd sighting of Doyle was reported no solid leads were found. They had no idea where he was holding Emily or if she was even alive._

_They might never know._

At first no one paid attention to the slim brunette walking slowly along the outskirts of Halifax North Carolina. It wasn't until they got close enough to see past the curtain of dirty black hair that they noticed the bruised cheek, left eye nearly swollen shut, split lip, dried blood in streaks down her arms and the mid-autumn sunlight reflecting off the glock in her hand.

He was shopping with his family when he felt a hand weakly grip his bicep. Turning he came face to face with the woman, her glock was raised and pointed at his forehead. She studied his features intently before confusion crossed her battered face, their eyes met and he could see the doubt and fear as some type of realisation set in.

"You're not Hotch" she lowered the gun and walked away.

All he would be able to tell the police is that she went north. They found no sign of her.

6 days later another man told the same story to the Stony Creek Virginia Sheriff.

Then Petersburg, Ashland and Bowling Green.

The resemblance the men shared was not lost as the various departments tried to track the woman, they were all over 6 ft., dark hair and dark eyes. She was never violent and she never said anything except those same three words "you're not Hotch". None of the men knew what she meant or who she was looking for and none of the men could recall seeing her before.

Finally 10 days after the sighting in Bowling Green one of the Fredricksburg police recognised her as she approached a man in a diner. It didn't go the way they hoped, they ended up in a standoff when the woman barricaded herself in the kitchen with the diners staff.

When they finally got an open line she made one demand "Get Aaron Hotchner".

* * *

When Chief Strauss received the call she listened intently taking notes before asking for the files to be sent for her eyes only.

10 minutes later she was looking at the crime scene photos taken by the Rocky Mount PD a week earlier. A truck had been abandoned north of the city, highway patrol had searched the truck to try find out who the driver was only to discover his decomposing body in the back. The man had been in what appeared to be a viscous fight before being choked to death, ME estimated he'd been dead for over 2 weeks.

It wasn't the only thing they found. The sleeper section had been converted into a prison and based on the forensic evidence someone had been held against their will. The local police had found prints, hair and multiple different types of bodily fluids. The results of the DNA and fingerprints had been flagged months before for her immediate notification.

Ian Doyle was dead and for the first time in 7 months they had a solid lead on the whereabouts of Emily Prentiss.

* * *

The Fredricksburg Police did not want to call in the Fed's. As far as they were concerned they could handle one crazy woman without help.

Then they realised that while this woman had been caught on many different security camera's they didn't have a clear shot of her face. She seemed to have an uncanny knack for keeping her face hidden. They didn't have a name, or anyway to identify where she actually came from. She had refused all their attempts to communicate beyond wanting to speak with Aaron Hotchner.

She wasn't frantically pacing the diner or threatening anyone. There was no yelling or manic muttering about escape. She had quietly herded her hostages into the kitchen directing them to what seemed to be random places before wedging herself in a protected corner. The police quickly realised that from her position she could only be approached from the front. The placement of the 5 hostages had been incredibly precise as no matter what angle they looked from they couldn't get a clear shot at her.

They knew she had been first spotted in North Carolina and had covered at least 150 miles on foot. The final straw was when one of their rookies pointed out the resemblance each of the men who had submitted reports had to Agent Aaron Hotchner of the FBI that the Chief gave in a called the Bureau.

* * *

Chief Strauss was contemplating Ian Doyle's autopsy report when the call came in for help in Fredricksburg.

Once again she asked for the file to be sent to her, she skimmed the details and called David Rossi to her office.

"I just received a request for help from the Fredricksburg PD with a hostage situation. 4 hours ago a woman walked into a diner and took 5 people hostage. The local police tried to negotiate, she's made a single demand and has refused all other attempts to communicate."

Rossi's eyebrow rose slightly "What does she want?"

"Aaron Hotchner."

* * *

At that moment Hotch was seated in an interview room in Oregon state prison waiting to meet with a serial rapist his team had caught the year before.

When he received Strauss' call he would leave before the interview even started.

* * *

Erin handed over both files and watched as Dave quickly thumbed through them. She knew the moment he came across the composite sketches of the woman as his breath hitched in his throat. Meeting his eyes she uttered "Go". When her office door closed behind him she placed a call to the Director.

On his way down to the bullpen Rossi quickly decided not to show the others the sketches of the woman. They didn't need the distraction and they didn't need the false hope.

The 30 minute drive felt interminably long to Rossi, he gave them the basics. Told them what Strauss had told him without showing them the sketches. Morgan was the first to throw out the stalker theory which was rebutted quickly by JJ's observation around the woman's physical condition. Possibly a former victim that Hotch had saved. As expected Reid rattled off the stats around both stalkers and re-victimisation while Blake remained quiet on the subject. She wasn't yet comfortable enough with the team to interrupt the rapid fire back and forth without waiting for everyone else to drop into silence. Rossi knew none of them would get close without seeing the sketches and knowing about Doyle's death.

He had his own theories, Emily Prentiss was a professional at compartmentalisation but 7 months as a captive of Ian Doyle would have stripped her defenses and sense of self piece by piece and brought everything she locked away to the surface. Even if only sub-consciously Rossi knew she would be looking for somewhere safe to heal and put herself back together. Hotch was their leader, he would rally the rest of the team into a solid wall of protection around her. Rossi wouldn't be surprised if Emily was relying solely on instinct, get to Hotch, Hotch would bring the team and the team would protect her.

He shivered slightly in the cool October breeze as they stepped out of the car, the glares they received from the local PD were easily ignored. There had been no change in the situation. The woman still refused to speak with them.

"It's strange though" the police chief scratched his head "she's left them pretty much alone, hasn't made a single threatening move in hours. She's allowed them water and bathroom breaks as well. To be honest I'm not sure she'd notice if they just up and walked out."

"Any luck on an ID yet?" Morgan asked

"None, we've tracked her back to Halifax but nothing before that." he handed over the copies of the various police reports.

"Get me a line" Rossi stated and turned his back on the rest of the team not wanting to see their faces when they got to the sketches.

He could just see one of the male hostages pick up the ringing phone.

"Is this Hotch?" a trembling but unfamiliar voice came over the line.

"Tell her Hotch is in Oregon and you're speaking with Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi of the FBI. Can you tell me who are you speaking for?"

He waited as the information was relayed, if he was right then he would be asked to prove who he was. If he was wrong the phone call would be terminated from inside the diner.

He heard a muffled voice in the background speaking too softly for him to hear.

"She said Rossi would know about Rome."

Rossi felt as though someone had punched him right in the solar plexus. He could feel the rest of the team's gaze burning through him, reaching to the file in front of him he pulled out the report from Rocky Mount he'd held back and handed them to Morgan. With the team kept busy he gathered his courage and spoke.

"Can you put the phone on speaker?" he asked

Receiving an affirmative he counted to 10 before starting to speak.

"You were 15 when your Mom was posted there. You did what you thought you had to for acceptance. When it all fell apart Matthew found you a Doctor and was with you every step of the way, he held your hand and told you to keep your head held high. You told me he saved your life and made you feel worthy of love and friendship." JJ stepped up next to him "but that's when his anger and questioning of the church started, combined with the drug abuse you weren't surprised when his parents thought he was possessed."

He could hear Morgan trying to condense 4 years undercover, 4 years in the BAU and 7 months missing into a few short sentences. On the other end of the line he could hear quiet breathing.

"Emily…" Rossi knew all the right buttons to push. While unofficially the team didn't actively profile each other they all knew what to say to get to each other, Emily's pressure points would be right on the surface and ready to push "let everyone else come out so I can take you home."

JJ gently tapped his forearm before holding her hand out for the phone. He held up his hand to stop her.

"Emily?"

His eyes were glued to the front doors of the diner. After 30 seconds of silence he heard a quiet "go" then footsteps moving quickly across the tiled floor. Muting the phone he called over his shoulder "Hostages are being released". Moments later 5 people could be seen rushing towards the doors. The locals surged forward and guided them off to the waiting paramedics.

"Emily, I'm going to put JJ on the line then I'm coming in."

Muting the phone he turned to JJ "Talk to her about something the two of you did together. Girls nights, case discussion, gossip, anything to keep her focused on us and the fact that she's safe with us."

"Em its JJ… do you remember the time a guy tried to pick you up by pretending to be an agent?"

Rossi turned to the police chief "Morgan gave you the basics?"

"Yeah, she's a Fed who went missing last March while tracking an arms dealer."

"Good, I'm going in there. When I bring her out do not rush her or crowd her. Make sure the paramedics know the only hospital they will be taking her to is Bethesda and either myself or our Unit Chief will be riding with her." he turned to Morgan "Update Strauss and get an ETA on Hotch. If I can't get her out of there straight away then we'll either be waiting for Hotch or sedating her" he walked over to the paramedics muttering under his breath "or both".

Having overheard the muttering the chief looked questioningly at Morgan "Think about the stubbornest member of your command and then triple it" The Chief looked skeptical "Prentiss once spent 36 hours straight lying in underbrush in Maine when a suspect returned unexpectedly. We couldn't get in and she couldn't get out. 36 hours without food, water or sleep and at the end she took out the unsub, did the debrief, comforted a traumatised child all while proclaiming loudly that she was fine. It wasn't until everything calmed down that she passed out right at my feet. She's stubborn to the point that they call it 'getting your Prentiss on' back at Quantico."

Rossi was approaching the front doors to the diner, JJ was still telling stories about various girls' nights the two of them had been on with Garcia, Reid and Blake were simply standing there watching it all. He knew the others would have all come to the same conclusion as he had about Emily's state of mind and unless they seriously disagreed with his course of action they would leave him to continue talking her down from this precipice.

Rossi didn't hesitate at the doors, pushing them open he strode through confident in the knowledge that Emily wouldn't shoot him on sight.

As the doors clicked closed behind him he slowed his pace slightly listening to the diner around him. JJs voice still echoed through the phone "she held up the smallest bag and said that one was for Kevin…"

His footsteps echoed quietly as he made his way to the rear of the diner and into the kitchen. At first glance she was nowhere to be seen but he'd been expecting that. With a second sweep his gaze landed on a pair of bare feet sticking out from the other side of the heavy duty fridge, caked with mud and blood it gave him a snap insight into her overall physical condition. With slow and sure steps he continued towards her

"…never did tell me exactly what you got up to that night in Vegas"

He kept his eyes trained on her, cataloguing every mark that was revealed with his steps until she was fully in view, he'd seen her battered and bruised in the past, defiant in the face of men who tried to beat her down and no matter how bad it was she always pulled herself back up. Occasionally she even accepted a helping hand from the team.

_I can take it_

Her eyes were open, staring straight at him but there was a dullness he had seen on too many people. Victims that he's never sure if they saved just in time or just too damn late.

"Hey kiddo"

In the background JJ's rambling trailed off as they both waited for Emily to respond. When she didn't he continued on.

"You're not looking too good" her eyes snapped up to meet his and there was a brief flicker of irritation so he continued speaking "that's ok though, we'll get you a shower and some clean clothes and you'll be good as new" they both knew it was a lie but at that moment it was one he was willing to tell and she was willing to believe.

"Rossi?" she squinted through her good eye.

"Yeah kid?"

"I'm tired"

"Well, considering you just about walked the length of Virginia that's not surprising." he gestured the spot beside her "May I?".

She considered his request, sub-consciously Emily knew it shouldn't be this hard to make a decision on whether a friend could sit down next to her or not but it was getting harder to focus on anything. Rossi was blurry around the edges and his voice had taken on a strange echoing quality. Making decisions was getting harder and harder, the words blood loss and dehydration flittered across her mind but she couldn't even work out exactly what they meant.

The question Rossi asked had wandered just out of her reach so she simply nodded and hoped that was the correct response, it must have been because a sad smile graced his face as he slid down to sit next to her.

"Rossi?" Emily let her head loll to rest on his shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever heard the phrase dubious consent?" Shuffling slightly he slipped his left arm around her shoulder and pulled her close so her ear rested on his heart. His concern jumped up another notch, the heat emanating from her entirely too thin body was way too high.

"I have and every time someone has said it to me I tell them the exact same thing. There's no such thing, sex is either consensual or non-consensual. If there's anything even remotely dubious about the consent then it's not valid" he felt her start to relax.

"I was recruited straight out of the academy for JTF-12, I'd topped my class in undercover and infiltration. That combined with my looks and language skills they figured I could slip into Doyle's inner circle easier than a man. I spent nearly 2 years building up Lauren Reynolds reputation, making sure her name was already being whispered about before making a play for Doyle and he fell right for it."

Rossi could hear her speech starting to slur and her body was leaning heavier into his.

Maybe he wouldn't have to sedate her after all.

"The first time I fucked him I felt so dirty... like I'd sold my body for a gun but after a while it got easier. I always wondered..." her voice trailed off.

"Did Lauren's consent mean Emily had given hers as well?" David asked quietly.

She either wouldn't or couldn't answer so the room dropped into silence until Derek's voice came quietly in his ear piece.

"I just spoke to Hotch, he's on the jet now but he said not to wait for him. Just sedate her and get her to Bethesda, he'll meet us there."

"Tsia called it dubious consent. Consent was given but not meant" she slurred. "I knew going in..."

Looking down Rossi could see her eyes had drifted shut but her face and shoulders still had the tension of wakefulness. How many times had they done this for each other after a bad case? They all had days where they couldn't relax until they were surrounded and protected by the rest of the team.

"You're safe now princess" he whispered in her ear "I'm not moving from your side, Hotch is on his way, Derek, JJ and Reid are guarding the doors. You can sleep now."

Ever so slowly over the next 10 minutes, her breathing evened out into a regular rhythm and some of the pain and fear receded from her face. Once Rossi was sure she was completely out he gently removed the glock from her lap, flicked the safety on, ejected the clip and slid it into his pocket.

"JJ, can you please bring one of the paramedics in. Move slowly and quietly, she's asleep but not sedated." He whispered through the comm. Given how much trust she was placing in him he was hesitant to do anything to breach it. Now that she was relaxed and disarmed there shouldn't be any reason for her to be medicated beyond pain management.

Except...

They would need to strap her down for the ambulance trip to Bethesda which would no doubt result in panic on Emily's part if she woke up in transit. The scarring on her wrists and ankles attested to months of being restrained and based on the crime scene report she had been kept in a moving vehicle.

They would definitely be sedating her for the ambulance ride.

* * *

Hotch didn't fiddle, tap, wriggle, squirm or pace. He was reserved by nature but at this moment it was taking all of his considerable self-control to remain still.

Regular updates had been coming through from the team, but it wasn't the same as being there in person.

10 minutes before Reid had confirmed that Emily was sedated and on her way to Bethesda with Dave accompanying her in the ambulance, and JJ and himself following behind them. Morgan had stayed behind with Blake to finish the clean-up.

Strauss had organised for additional agents to meet them at Bethesda for security. She had been thoughtful enough to make sure they were all agents Emily knew well enough to identify on sight. She was also politically savvy enough to know Ambassador Prentiss would be incredibly unhappy if the FBI lost her daughter again. The Ambassador had made things very uncomfortable for the higher ups when it got out that Jeremy Wolff had sold out the rest of the team.

Which reminded him... Hotch picked up his phone and quickly sent a text to Clyde Easter.

**Doyle dead. E alive - en route Bethesda, will send update soon**

Hotch knew that man felt responsible for Wolff's betrayal and had spent the last 7 months tracking down every single person Wolff had worked with to warn them. He also knew that Easter would be getting on the first flight he could to Washington.

Looking down at his watch, Hotch let out a quiet breath.

2 more hours until they landed.

* * *

Rossi stood quietly in the corner of the room watching the Doctors intently as they assessed Emily. As promised he stood silently and allowed them to work without interruptions, he listened closely jotting down questions to ask the attending physician about her condition and treatment. At first the scars and bruises peppering her arms and legs weren't visible but then as one of the nurses started to wash the blood and dirt off the surface damage was evident. He refused to flinch away as her clothes were cut off her body to reveal an emaciated wreak of once had been a fit and healthy body, nor did he let himself cry when they found the infection site and it's cause. There would be time for that later. Glancing down at his watch he was surprised to find that 4 hours had passed by as the medical team started the long process of putting his friend back together.

"Agent Rossi?" One of the nurses approached him.

"Yeah"

"We're taking her up for an MRI on her knee, we're worried about the amount of damage we saw on the x-ray and we're also going to check her skull just to be sure the x-ray didn't miss anything, we've let radiology know you'll be escorting Agent Prentiss. After that's done we'll get her settled into a private room and her Doctor will talk to you about everything."

"Thank you" Rossi smiled tightly "is someone able to update the rest of the team?"

* * *

"Agent Hotchner?"

Hotch's head shot up at the sound of his name being called. Standing at the same time as the rest of the team he stepped forward and identified himself.

"Agent Rossi asked me to let you know Agent Prentiss is currently stable and up in radiology, we should have her settled into a room within the hour. Someone will come and get you then."

Hotch nodded his thanks to the Nurse and turned to relay the information back to the rest of the team.

Alex Blake stood back from the rest of the team and watched. She wondered if they knew the chances of Emily ever being fit for duty again were slim. She'd seen many strong women and men never recover from an experience like this. Allowing her gaze to flit over the rest of the team she assessed them one at a time.

Hotch was already prepared for the worst, Morgan and JJ we're hopeful but pragmatic. Reid and Garcia still believed their friend would come out of this intact.

* * *

Hotch hadn't moved from his seat in between the bed and the door since sending the rest of the team home earlier the previous evening. Rossi of course had promptly sat down on the other side of the bed and refused to move stating he had made a promise. He knew though the others had left the room they would still be in the hospital. It wouldn't surprise him to find them standing guard outside the room.

The Doctor had given them a run down on her condition and as Hotch catalogued her injuries in his mind a vivid image of how each of them had been inflicted flashed through his mind.

A knee that had been dislocated enough times that her ACL, MCL and Meniscus had all been torn to shreds. An orthopedic surgeon was being consulted but the attending stated he wouldn't be surprised if she never regained full use of her knee even with a complete replacement.

Seven separate four leaf clovers had been branded into her chest and back. 1 for each year Doyle spent in prison.

The bottom of her feet were in shreds from walking as far as she did without shoes.

She was hovering right at the edge of clinical starvation. According to the Doctor she most likely hadn't been starved during her time with Doyle but they didn't think she had eaten since escaping.

Sometime in the 3 weeks between escaping and arriving in Fredricksburg she'd had a miscarriage. A small piece of placenta had been retained which was what caused the infection her body was in no condition to fight. They would do their best to help her along but the Doctor wasn't sure if she had enough fight left in her to get past this. Hotch couldn't banish the image of her alone, bleeding and in pain.

With the sedation wearing off both Hotch and Rossi knew that her waking would be traumatic for all involved. If they could keep enough control to stop the medical staff from either sedating or restraining her that would be a win.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hotch caught a movement in the doorway. He turned his head in time to see Elizabeth Prentiss step through.

The Ambassador didn't say anything merely watched her daughter for a few moments before turning her gaze to Hotch, their eyes met, she nodded once and then turned and walked away.

Hotch wouldn't be surprised if The Ambassador didn't see Emily again for months.

On the other side of the room Dave shook his head sadly. It would be up to them to get Emily through this.


	2. Minus One

MINUS ONE

_"Tell me, does the lovely Penelope know the truth about you? Or is she too busy watching movies with Derek to care? Here you are, all alone, while Aaron sits at home with his son. And why didn't Dave and Ashley invite you to their game night? Maybe they thought you'd be on the Metro with Dr Reid. Oh, that one does have some quirks."_

Ian Doyle was a dangerous man and no one knew that better than Emily Prentiss.

As she sat across from him and he threatened her team she made a decision. He couldn't be allowed to walk out of here, maybe his threats had some merit but the damage he would cause alive was unimaginable.

Hand wrapped firmly around the glock she flicked off the safety lifted the gun above the table and pulled the trigger.

The bullet went through his right eye, out the back of his head and lodged in the cement pylon behind him.

Emily didn't bother running. She emptied the chamber, removed the clip, laid the pieces on the table and waited for the police to turn up.

She was arrested and booked.

She made her one phone call to a message service.

"Ian Doyle is dead"

She refused council, refused to answer questions, refused to give them anything. Just sat in silence as the Detectives asked her why she shot an unarmed man in a public place.

She waited, her prints were in the system and either Hotch or Strauss would show up once they knew she was a Fed. A part of her hoped it was Strauss, it would only take a single word to get the woman onside and working at getting the charges dropped.

'Valhalla'

In the end it didn't matter, Declan was safe, her team was safe.

In the grand scheme of things she didn't matter.

Ian Doyle was dead.


	3. Minus Eight Thousand

MINUS EIGHT THOUSAND

_You want me to raise your son so he can have your life?_

_Is it that bad a life?_

_There are so many things I would do to make you happy. But I can't do this._

Emily was panicking.

3 weeks since Doyle had told her the truth about Declan and asked if she wanted children of her own.

She did, but not his.

Just like she did want to raise Declan but not in his fathers image.

That day she'd sent Jeremy her extraction signal, she had all the information they needed to bring Doyle up on international arms charges. She was on a slippery slope now, while he was subtle about it Doyle had been pushing her change her mind. He wanted more sons to raise as 'Warriors' and Emily wouldn't put it past him to screw with her birth control if she didn't change her mind soon. She was really worried he had already.

She needed to get out NOW.

She sent another message to Jeremy requesting emergency extraction, he didn't respond.

When the raid came 2 days later it wasn't the sedate arrest she had been expecting. It wasn't even the police but a rival dealer who wanted Doyle's business.

They'd gone through the villa with a fine tooth comb killing everyone they came across, fortunately they missed the false walls she hid behind with Declan.

She held the boy close his head tucked into the crook of her neck and his tears soaking her collar as they slipped down the escape tunnels the original owner had built over a century before.

She settled the terrified child into the car and drove, the bench seat a blessing as it allowed his blonde head to rest on her thigh.

Interpol wasn't an option, she couldn't trust them after Jeremy left her out in the cold.

Once they reached Paris Emily retrieved her real passport from the lock box no one knew about and went straight to the American Embassy. The name on her passport guaranteed safe entry and VIP treatment and for once she didn't balk at using her mothers name and reputation. She would do anything for the little boy in her arms. A call to her FBI handler started the investigation into Jeremy, Clyde, Tsia and Sean and expedited a passport in the name of Declan Prentiss.

The rest of the paperwork claiming him as her son would be waiting when she landed in DC. Whoever Cruz got the documents from was good, if anyone went looking they would believe Declan to be her biological son.

Tsia and Sean were cleared, they hadn't known she requested extraction. Clyde knew about the request but believed there was more information she could get out of Doyle. He'd been censured, demoted and relegated to a desk job in Bristol.

Jeremy betrayed them all, the last thing she ever heard about him was that he was now residing in a Siberian gulag.

6 months after arriving back in the states she joined the Chicago field office.

They settled in well, Declan started school… he started calling her Mom the same day.

They celebrated her birthday, his birthday and Christmas together twice.

She never told anyone that the bullet that killed Ian Doyle came from her own gun.

Her profiling skills strengthened, and the Chief asked if she'd thought about the BAU? She had and she wanted it more than anything, but with Declan it was a dream that had to wait so she lied and said it had always been a thought for the nebulous 'future' and not something she was interested in right then.

Moments later Emily forgot his question, she was caught up in the case file on her desk. There was something hauntingly familiar about the crime, she spent the rest of the day in the archives and found 8 other murders across 2 states with the same MO. When 5pm rolled around she packed up all the files and went home to Declan, when the 6 year old was fed, bathed and in bed the files came out again.

By morning she'd written a profile...

The profile she put together went to the SSAIC, who sent it the Section Chief who forwarded it on to the BAU.

Gideon opened the consult, and started to build his own profile. When he got to the final pages he discovered a profile completed by one of the Agents out of Chicago and he was impressed. The insights into the un-subs behaviour were rare for an agent outside the BAU.

He packed up his team and took them to Chicago, not because this case was particularly heinous or more important than all the others they had sitting on their desks but because he wanted to meet this not-profiler.

If she was as good in real life as she was on paper he wanted Emily Prentiss for his team.

He wasn't disappointed.

Gideon had pulled the SSAIC aside and asked for a private introduction. He hadn't told the rest of the team what her profile said or that it even existed. He didn't want her opinion to colour their conclusions.

Throughout the investigation he watched her as she absorbed all the workings of the team.

Hotch was the only one who noticed the interest Gideon was showing in the young local and when questioned Gideon smirked and handed over Emily's profile.

"She'll make a good addition." was all Hotch said.

* * *

"I have a place for you in Washington" Gideon stated the moment the front door to her apartment opened. "For a rookie with no formal training you're a damn good profiler and I want you for my team."

"Gideon..." Emily sighed it seemed he was giving up on subtlety. "Come in..." she opened the door for him and led him down the hall to the kitchen where Declan had spread his colouring supplies from one end of the table to the other.

"Dec, this is Agent Gideon... Gideon, my son Declan." She introduced the two.

In that moment he found the final piece of the puzzle, he knew why she was hesitating. It was written all over the scene he'd walked into.

"Wine?" she asked canting her head towards the other side of the kitchen. He followed her and watched with interest as she grabbed a remote, hitting the play button soft jazz echoed through the room.

"We can talk freely, Declan won't be able to hear."

Gideon nodded and studied the woman in front of him, adding all he'd learnt about her to the profile he'd building since meeting her 3 day's before.

"I want you in the BAU." Gideon started "you're good now and you could be one of the greats. I could see in your face when I first mentioned the possibility that you want it."

"Then..." Emily sipped her wine "...tell me why I'm probably going to say no. Profile me!" she challenged.

"You're smart and driven and you thrive on a challenge, every time I pushed you to figure things out for yourself you got there quickly." He started "You work well in a team but you're assigned as a floater, the Unit Chief puts you in whatever team needs you and you like it that way. Either a team let you down or you let them down whichever it was you prefer working alone." Gideon knew he was on the right track when her eyes widened slightly

"You're a single Mom, probably have a part time Nanny who stays with Declan after school but other than that you do everything for him yourself. There are photo's of the two of you everywhere, he's your world. There's no man in any of the photo's so his father isn't around and what I find really interesting is that there are no photo's of his baby or toddler years. They start when he's around four, so he's adopted. The child of a friend... college room mate maybe. There's also no photo's of him with Grandparent's, Aunts or Uncles, just the two of you. Your home is clean but well lived in and anybody visiting would know that that little boy is an integral part of it, but all the furnishings are fairly new as well. No more than two years old which means you bought everything new when Declan came into your life."

Emily remained silent, her body language telling him while one or two of the details were wrong, he'd hit all the major nails right on the head.

"You're settled here, yet you have no support system, nothing to keep you in Chicago and I'm betting if the BAU was anywhere but Washington you'd pack Declan up and move. Being by yourself you're hesitant to take a job where you have to travel so much and I'm guessing there's someone in Washington you really don't want contact with, possibly someone related to Declan and you don't want them near him."

She watched him silently, trying to decide how trustworthy he was. It took a moment but she finally realised what had drawn her to him. Then it hit her, everything about this man was the opposite of Jeremy and Clyde, Gideon would never abandon a member of his team.

"What's your security clearance?"

He told her. It was high enough for her to give him an overview but not any details.

"I was recruited to a task force straight out of the academy and sent to Scotland Yard. They trained me in profiling and deep cover which isn't part of my official file so I've been''playing dumb' so to speak. I was then loaned to Interpol where I spent time undercover which is where I met Declan's father. Things went south on the OP and my call for extraction was ignored by my team leader. He'd switched sides and sold me out to the highest bidder. Declan's father was killed, I extracted myself and Declan and brought him back to the states to raise. I can't take a job where I'll be traveling constantly and... the Washington thing... my mother is based in Washington, we haven't spoken since I chose the FBI Academy over the State Department."

There was more... much more she wasn't saying. Gideon understood secrets, he also understood guilt and fear so he didn't push for more.

"I'll make you a deal. You join the BAU and I'll guarantee you 7 out of 8 weeks at home. Same type of position as here, you can float between teams providing support on an as needed basis from Quantico. You'll travel with me for custodial interviews and 1 case in the field with my team every 2 months. Then when you're ready and Declan is old enough you can start traveling with a team."

* * *

They celebrated Declan's 7th birthday at their new house in Aquia Harbour.

The first year she ghosted around the BAU, Emily was never sure if she was unwilling or unable to make friends. Eventually it didn't matter, Penelope Garcia decided she was going to be Emily's friend and that was that.

The only exception was Gideon… that night in her apartment after extracting her agreement to join the BAU he'd sat down with Declan and helped the boy with his reading, it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between the two. Declan finally had a good man to look up to and Gideon… she didn't quite know what Gideon got out of it. Once they'd settled into the house a pattern started. Gideon's first night back in town after a case he would turn up at her front door with a bottle of wine for dinner and a postcard of whatever city he'd been in for Declan. The boy had a wall dedicated entirely to Gideon's travels. After several months and a bottle of fantastic red wine Emily finally worked up the courage to ask him why her house was the first stop he made after a case.

"He's pure... untouched by the darkness and he's a balm on my soul."

Their eyes met and Gideon almost recoiled with shock over the haunted look in Emily's eyes, he'd seen flashes of it before but never this naked pain. Whatever had happened during that mission had left her with scars like the fisher kings wounds.

Reaching out he placed his wine on the coffee table and pulled her into a hug. Her body tensed at the contact and then relaxed into the simple comfort and affection she hadn't felt since her father died.

"That's why I put a bullet between his fathers eyes" she whispered.


	4. Sixteen

SIXTEEN

_They watched as she crossed the road at a low run. Without hesitation she tossed something through an open window seconds later there was a flash and smoke billowed out. She moved with an unexpected confidence and handled the automatic weapon as though it was part of her. None of the team had ever seen this side of Emily Prentiss, Rossi realised quickly that they weren't watching their friend and co-worker. They were watching Lauren Reynolds, arms dealer._

_They found the secret she was really protecting and with that the warehouse, but they were too late. They missed them by maybe an hour._

_Blood and hair proved he had held Emily there but where Ian had taken her after that they didn't know._

_Weeks turned into months and months into a year, though the odd sighting of Doyle was reported no solid leads were found. They had no idea where he was holding Emily or if she was even alive._

_They might never know._

There were day's where she resigned herself to never getting out of the compound alive. The fact that Doyle hadn't killed her yet didn't mean he wouldn't.

The first few days of her captivity had been about vengeance for his son's perceived death. Emily had gambled on her team being close to tracking them down but it failed. Doyle moved her out of the warehouse before the team could find them. Once she told the truth he moved on to trying to extract Declan's location from her, she was as resolute as the day she'd refused to raise his son. Declan would not grow up to live his fathers life.

She spent 3 Months trapped in the back of that damn truck. At the time Emily had no concept of day or night. Hours felt like minutes and day's felt like weeks when you were locked away. Doyle used every tool he had at his disposal to break her but she was strong and well trained, he'd come to realise that like him it would take something significant to truly break her. Stepping up he ran gentle fingers down her cheek and neck to rest on her collar bone.

Leaning forward he rested his cheek against hers and whispered "If you won't give me Declan back then you'll give me a replacement."

He'd already tried to fuck her into submission but she'd spent 2 years in his bed, it was easy to let her mind drift back to that time and disassociate from the current brutality. Somewhere deep inside her sub-conscious was a little box she had locked those months into. One day it would all come screaming out and Emily had no doubt that the resulting meltdown would leave a bloody and violent trail.

She'd hoped that her age would buy her time, she was 36 and the chances of conceiving quickly were low; unfortunately her body didn't get the memo as 8 weeks later she threw up all over Doyle and the pregnancy test came back positive.

That was when he moved her to the compound.

It had now been 11 weeks since Emily had given birth to Doyle's daughter. He had the child wanted and yet… Emily was still alive.

If she was honest with herself, Emily had expected Doyle to slit her throat as soon as she gave birth but here she was, still locked away in a gilded cage with Keira.

The household staff were all too loyal or too scared to help her escape but her acquiescence since feeling the baby move for the first time and seeming contentment since the birth had lulled them all into a false sense of security. Doyle had visited her earlier that day, he was leaving for four days and wanted a goodbye fuck, Emily suspected he wanted another son and not the daughter she'd delivered, he was keeping her alive solely for that reason.

He didn't know about the scalpel she had stolen from the midwife.

At the midnight security check she smashed the nursery lamp over the guards head and then slit his throat. She'd worked out months before they were all muscle and no brain so it wasn't hard to ambush them. With them dead she emptied their wallets; the domestic staff were left alive, tied up in their rooms and relieved of all their cash as well.

As she was driving her stolen Range Rover Emily knew she needed to make a choice. She could disappear, she had a beach house in Maine she'd purchased under an alias years ago, she had several different ID's and enough cash to hide out in Europe for years. She also knew a guy in Nantucket who could get her a passport for Keira.

But… she'd already tried going it alone once, she couldn't do it again. Her only option was the team she'd walked away from.

Glancing down at the 3 month old snuggled into her jacket Emily knew 2 things.

Hiding wasn't an option. Doyle would chase her for eternity to get Keira back and the baby deserved a chance to grow up without a mother constantly looking over their shoulders and on the run.

She couldn't do this alone, despite getting the drop on the three guards she was in no physical or mental condition to fight Doyle.

So she drove to Boston Logan, left the car with the keys in the ignition in the short term parking lot.

Inside the airport she purchased a prepaid phone and made sure she looked directly into a security camera before entering a cell number from memory she sent a text and walked out the doors.

**I wasn't lying when I told JJ I compartmentalise better than most. I'm coming to you.**

* * *

Aaron Hotchner was an incredibly light sleeper, years of being on call had conditioned him to wake at the slightest noise so when his phone chimed with an incoming text message he was instantly alert.

He didn't know the number and the contents we're random enough that he didn't automatically connect the words to the woman until he flashed back 6 years to a dank bathroom in Georgia. At the time he had still been suspicious of her but he knew now just why she adapted to the BAU so well.

He considered his options at 4am.

If the sender was who he hoped, the phone she sent the message from would already be turned off and possibly dumped. She would most likely have no ID and limited cash and she would take neither the fastest nor the slowest route from wherever she was to DC. She would want to be seen by people and cameras and be both memorable and recognisable. She wanted them to find her.

The opposite of what Doyle would looking for. Doyle would be expecting her to go to ground, avoid any and all contact with her previous life.

He quickly typed out a response **Wheels down** before sending a second message to two of the team.

**Office at 6am, no case - team not required and not to be contacted**

An hour and a half later he waited in his office for Rossi and Garcia. The less people involved the safer Emily was, if it really was Emily. Once they had confirmed the identity of the sender he would bring in the rest of the team. Rossi arrived moments before Garcia, Hotch kept his silence until they were safely ensconced in the blonds lair.

"Garcia, can you please pull up the text message I received at 4:20 this morning? I need you to trace the number, It's most likely a burn phone and currently switched off."

"Correct and correct Sir" Garcia confirmed, as the information on the cell service popped up on the screen.

"Hotch?" Rossi spoke quietly as the gravity of the message started to dawn.

Holding up a hand to silence the older man Hotch waited for Garcia to pull up the rest of the information.

"I can't trace the purchase without more information" Garcia continued as she tapped away "but it looks like the phone was in Boston Logan when the message was sent." she turned to look at him "do you want me to check the security footage?"

Hotch could see her eyes had teared up, it seemed Garcia had understood the message as well.

"Yes please."

The three of them dropped into silence as Garcia worked her magic to get into the Airports security camera's. 5 minutes passed, then 10 as the grainy footage from the time the text was sent swirled across the screens.

Finally they spotted her standing at the departures check in, looking straight at the camera.

"Oh God" Garcia let out a small sob "she's really alive"

"Can..." neither of them missed the catch in Rossi's voice "...Can you track where she went after?"

Garcia turned back to the screen as Emily walked out the doors, switching camera's they followed her to the blue line at Boston Logan to Boston South Station. They all noticed the way she favoured her right leg and kept her left arm curled protectively around her chest as she purchased a ticket, ducked into a 24 hour convenience store where she picked up a small packet of diapers and a bottle of water.

"Did she just...?" Hotch couldn't finish the question.

Back into the station Emily settled into the waiting lounge facing one of the camera's. They watched in surprise as she unzipped her jacket to reveal an infant, she quickly changed the baby's diaper before tucking it safely back inside her jacket.

On one of the other screen's Garcia searched through the records of tickets purchased at 4:55 that morning.

"She'll be on the North East regional, it's a direct service" Rossi stated "She's not hiding or trying to blend in, Emily sent the message knowing Garcia would trace it to the airport and we'd be able to follow her through the camera's."

"Exactly" Hotch agreed "she's vulnerable and she knows it. Garcia pull up the timetable for the North East Regional."

"Train departed 20 minutes ago and arrives in Quantico at 3:16 this afternoon, there she is boarding it. I'm trying to get into the trains security right now so we can keep an eye on her real time."

"I'm going to call a friend in New York" Rossi double checked the train schedule "see if he can get onto the train with her."

The three of them sighed in relief as a real time image of the train finally appeared on the screen. Seat reclined back, baby sleeping comfortably on her chest Emily Prentiss stared out at the sun rise.

"Garcia..."

"I've already sent all the footage to both your tablets along with a link to the live stream."

An hour passed as the three of them watched their team mate in silence then Hotch left to brief Chief Strauss then JJ, Morgan and Reid. Rossi heard back from his friend in New York, the sooner they had someone on the train with Emily the better.

JJ broke down in tears at the sight of her friend alive, Reid silently stood as close to the monitor as possible - as though it would allow him to be physically closer to her. Morgan made for the door shouting over his shoulder that he could make it to New York to meet the train and bring her home himself.

"And if Doyle is already looking for her?" Hotch's question stopped Morgan. "He'll be watching us." Reid agreed "do you really want to lead him right to Emily?"

"She's safe for now and we have a plan to get back up onto the train."

Garcia continued to watch the monitors, refusing to take her eyes off Emily and sent messages back to the phone she hoped Emily still had and would turn back on.

4 hours after sending the initial message Emily finally worked up the courage to turn it back on, a niggling in her brain questioned whether he understood or even cared. After all, she had been the one to walk away... abandon the team. After a few moments messages started to pop through from Hotch's number but she could tell right away he had only authored the first one.

Penelope Garcia was in fine form this morning.

**Wheels down**

The first was clearly Hotch, the team was at home.

**Breadcrumbs followed**

**Fairy Godmother is watching over Snow White**

**Cinderella, Einstein and Chocolate Thunder have reported for duty and are ready to rescue Snow White and her heir**

**Grandpa D has a friend in New Haven he wants you to meet**

Garcia watched as Emily read through the messages, nonsensical to anyone who wasn't well acquainted with the tech analyst.

Emily typed out a response as tears welled in her eyes **I heard you and I saw the flashlights waving**

"Oh God" she murmured as she remembered the message she left begging Emily to come home, she watched as Emily swiped at the tears that were starting to fall "no Princess, no crying..."

Toggling to the messaging screen she quickly typed out a message

**Please don't cry, if you cry then I'll cry and if I start crying Cinderella and Einstein will cry too, Chocolate Thunder and Pappa Bear will get all uncomfortable so Grandpa D will tell dad jokes to try and make us all laugh. I can't cope with Dad Jokes right now**

In the conference room Hotch momentarily regretted allowing Garcia to send the messages until a watery smile broke out on Emily's face.

**Snow White and the heiress are looking forward to hearing Grandpa D's dad jokes.**

JJ let out her own wet giggle as Emily's message back popped through.

"Garcia?" she called quietly through the conference phone, as something occurred to her "Has she eaten since you first saw her on the Airport security camera's?"

There was a momentary silence on the other end "Not that I've seen."

"Hotch…" JJ knew just how demanding nursing was on the body. He understood JJ's concern straight away, they had no way of knowing how long it had been since she had escaped Doyle.

"Garcia, can you find a way to ask her if she's eaten recently?"

Within seconds a new message popped up

**Found any good apples recently? The non-poisoned kind.**

They watched the brunette frown as she worked through the messages hidden meaning. Knowing they were watching her closely Emily reached into her jacket pocket and pulled it inside out showing it to be empty. If she had been thinking clearly she would have packed a bag with enough necessities to get them through before leaving the compound, but she hadn't been thinking clearly. The only thing on her mind at the time had been getting as far away from there as quickly as possible.

She'd had a choice in the convenience store, food or diapers. She would survive a day on just water.

Keira needed to be clean more than Emily needed food.

"Rossi!" Hotch called out "Tell Blake she needs to find a way to get food to her without drawing any attention. It doesn't have to be a full meal, a granola bar or trail mix will do for now."

* * *

It had been mere chance that Alex Blake had been driving back from Harvard that morning, she'd been having breakfast with a friend in New Haven when Rossi called at 7am. She'd immediately left her car at the local field office and had one of the younger Agents drop her at the Amtrak station where Garcia ensured a ticket was waiting for her.

The team had still been reeling from Emily's disappearance when Alex joined them 6 months earlier. Rossi and Hotch had accepted her straight away, the two of them had chosen her with the knowledge that her skill set was close enough to Emily's to fill the professional void yet the woman different enough to allow the younger member's to accept her… eventually. The train pulled in right on time, as the carriage slowly moved past Alex caught a glimpse of the younger woman sitting by the window exactly where Garcia had said she would be.

Boarding the train Alex quickly found her seat, Garcia had picked well, there were four seats facing each other. Emily was facing forward by the window and Alex facing backwards by the isle. Close enough to protect Emily and the baby without crowding her.

As she sat down her phone buzzed with a new message. Rossi had apparently drafted a New York Detective Emily was friends with to take the seat next to her when it arrived at Penn Station.

Watching the younger woman out of the corner of her eye Alex pretended to focus on her phone as she responded to Hotch.

**Split lip, black eye, exhausted and skittish as hell. She needs a hug, a meal and a nap.**

Moments later a text came through not to Alex but the Emily.

**You found Grandpa D's friend. She's good people.**

Brown eyes met brown, Alex could see the fear and uncertainty the younger woman felt at having a stranger sitting so close. Breaking their gazes Alex reached into her bag and rummaged through it pulling out random items including her badge which she let flip open for Emily to see the credentials. Finally pulling out the tablet and bag of trail mix that had in fact been right at the top Alex repacked her bag and settled down to work on her lesson plans for next semesters advanced linguistics course.

10 minutes later Alex opened the trail mix munching on a few pieces before turning the open bag to Emily.

She eyed the packet warily, intellectually Emily knew she could trust this woman. The badge was genuine and Garcia vouched for her but it had been over a year since Emily had had contact with anyone who was genuinely trustworthy.

Having worked with enough victims to know that gaining Emily's trust was a marathon and not a sprint Alex placed the open bag on the table between them and went back to her work, allowing Emily the space to go at her own pace.

It only took a few minutes before hunger outweighed fear and Emily helped her self to a small handful of the mix.

* * *

Hotch hadn't taken his eyes off the screen throughout the entire exchange. While the team had a moratorium on profiling each other he felt this was the exception. He needed to know just how much damage Doyle had done, and it looked like a lot. She was closed off and distrustful but that was expected, Rossi's plan to get Tony Cooper onto the train was a good one. He was someone Emily knew and trusted and might be able to relax around which would give him a much better idea of her mental state and how she would react to the team.

He wouldn't voice it to the rest of the team but Hotch wondered if after all this time she had really escaped from Doyle or had the arms dealer had her long enough to break and turn her. The Emily Prentiss he had worked with would have died before breaking but... it was possible there had never been the right stresser to show the achilles heal she refused to admit existed. If Doyle had found it and turned her what was his endgame and why would he allow her to bring the baby? The baby would allow her to be controlled long distance and long term and Doyle would want to make sure she was completely under his control before allowing her out.

"JJ" Hotch called the blond over "I need you to go to Emily's condo and pick up some clothes for her and get some basics for the baby as well. Enough to last the two of them a week, we'll be keeping them here on campus while we plan our next move."

The Ambassador had refused to let them close up the condo and put Emily's belonging's into storage. He knew Garcia was looking after the cat and the team took turns in going over there to check on the place.

"Also make sure the car we'll be using to pick her up has a suitable baby seat."

"I've still got Henry's stroller and portable crib. I'll get them out of storage as well." JJ agreed.

"Take Reid with you and set everything up in my office when you get back. She's going to be completely exhausted and overwhelmed, I can work out of the conference room while she rests and gets her bearings."

On the screen they could see Alex attempting to make conversation.

"How old?"

"She'll be 3 months next week." Emily knew what Alex was doing, anything she revealed would be immediately relayed to the team.

**Girl 11 weeks old**

"That's a good age, their personalities really start to show around now."

Alex let the conversation die out, she had close to 6 hours before they would reach Quantico. That Emily was helping herself to the trail mix and had actually responded was a big enough win for now.

* * *

"Remember, she's injured and scared as hell. We have no idea what she's been put through and because of that there is no way to predict how she'll react to certain things. We've already got an agent on the train with her but Emily and Alex never met before so you're the first truly trustworthy person she will come into contact with in over a year." Rossi lectured.

"Rossi" Cooper interrupted "I got this. I get on the train, sit down next to her. I'll sit there and play games on my phone, read my book and sneak her food whenever I get the chance. I promise you they'll have to kill me to get to her."

* * *

"Work or Play?" Emily nodded towards the tablet.

"Work, I teach advanced linguistics at Georgetown. You?"

"Ironic, I did teach Spanish and French back in Greenfield. I have family in Virginia I want to be closer to so we're moving."

**Greenfield Massachusetts**

* * *

"Sir, I've just confirmed with Greenfield PD that they received a 911 call at 1:23 this morning. A woman reported a home invasion, when police arrived they found 3 men dead and 4 of the staff were locked up but relatively unharmed. According to their tech's the security there is top of the line, cameras in every room with the servers onsite. I told the lead detective that we'd received an anonymous tip and it may be related to an ongoing federal investigation. They're sending me all the footage from the last 24 hours."

"Thanks Garcia"

* * *

"I'm Alex"

"Ebony"

No one was surprised when she gave a fake name.

* * *

"Sir?"

"Yes Garcia"

"Can you please come down here, there's something you need to see."

Something in Garcia's voice sent shivers down his spine. Normally she would simply send the footage to him and not request his presence.

When he arrive in Garcia's office frozen on one of the screen's was Emily sitting in a rocking chair nursing the baby, according to the timestamp it was recorded at 2pm the previous day. He nodded to Garcia who hit play, then turned away to watch the live feed from the train.

He winced as Ian Doyle appeared in the doorway and watched Emily with undisguised lust. She knew what was coming and as she lay the baby down she visibly steeled herself. As soon as she stepped away from the crib he grabbed her and pushed her through the door hard enough for her to land on her hands and knees. Kneeling behind her he wrapped one arm around her neck to pull her against his chest, the other went around her waist, his hand going down the front of her pants. While her eyes flashed defiantly at the invasion she didn't fight him as he forced himself on her.

Just like he'd listened until the bitter end in Colorado he refused to look away from the screen.

_I can take it_

The entire scene lasted a little over 20 minutes, Garcia kept her head firmly turned away.

"Sir" Garcia's voice was thick with tears "please don't think less of me when I refuse to watch any more of these tapes. I can't watch her get raped over and over again."

"You don't have to. I'll organise for an analyst who doesn't know Emily to go through the rest of the footage" he reached out and rubbed her shoulder "I won't be watching anymore either and none of the others are to see this. If they ask about it send them to me."

Pulling out his cell he made a call

"Ma'am, we have confirmation of Ian Doyle's location less than 24 hours ago"

* * *

Just after 10 Alex noticed Emily shifting uncomfortably in the seat, quickly doing the math she realised the other woman hadn't moved in 4 hours.

She considered offering to watch the baby to allow the younger woman a break but ultimately decided to wait until Detective Cooper was on the train. If it was truly urgent she hoped Emily would ask, Alex was also aware that there wasn't anywhere near the level of trust between them needed for Emily to leave the baby alone with her.

"Let me know if you need a hand with anything." Was all Alex said.

**Mets fan incoming**

For the first time Emily couldn't work out who Garcia was talking about. All of the other references had been clear as day to her. Looking out the window at the New York skyline she tried to remember who she knew that was a Met's Fan. A vague memory of standing in a subway station with a man flashed through her mind.

_So uh if we're undercover maybe we should uh act like a couple?_

Right on the baby's own unbreakable schedule Keira let out an unsettled whine against Emily's neck, before it could escalate into cries Emily shifted her down to nurse while still puzzling through who Garcia was referring to.

As the train emptied out at Penn station Emily couldn't shake the feeling that whoever he was, she could trust him. Not just with her life but with Keira's as well.

_You have a toddler at home, just learning how to draw_

A gunshot, then two more.

Then he was there, making his way down the isle, cocky smirk still in place just like she remembered. Cooper stored his backpack in the overhead rack and settled himself in the seat next to Emily with a book.

She might make it home after all.

* * *

The rest of the train trip seemed to fly by.

Emily felt herself start to relax as they pulled into DC, if she got off the train she was a quick cab ride from her condo but the condo wasn't safe.

She was fading fast as Annandale flew past, it had been nearly 30 hours since she last slept and while it certainly wasn't her record and she had been far from active throughout the day the mental and emotional strain had worn her down. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and sleep. She just needed to get through the next hour.

**Grandpa D and Pappa Bear have the chariot ready. Cinderella, Einstein and Chocolate thunder will escort.**

As the train approached Quantico station Emily pulled Keira close to her chest and stood, Coopers hand automatically cupping her elbow as her weak knee gave out, letting go once she was steady.

Stepping off the train her eyes scanned the surrounding area for threats and all she could see was safety, Alex one step in front of her, Cooper a step behind. To her left JJ sat pretending to read a book, on her right Spencer was playing chess against himself, standing at the entrance Morgan was talking on his phone, parked as close as he could get Rossi watched her through the open window of the SUV and standing right in front was Hotch. Ramrod straight posture, suit impeccably pressed it felt as though she had never been gone.

Her bottom lip started to tremble and her vision was completely blurred by tears so she simply stopped walking. Frozen in place she could feel her teams expectant gazes, she had come so far, fought with everything she had to get back to them… to survive yet she could not move from that spot staring at Hotch through the tears. Then in the most un-Hotch like move Emily had ever seen him make he closed the distance between them and wrapped strong arms around her.

"You're safe now" he whispered as her sobs echoed through the station.

* * *

Sometime in the 15 minutes it took to drive back to the academy Emily dozed off.

Rossi wasn't surprised as she'd been awake for over 30 hours and on high alert since finding out Doyle was leaving the country 24 before. Now surrounded by the team she could relax. As Rossi parked the car he looked at her in the rear view mirror and was loathe to wake her up. Fortunately he didn't have to as the moment the engine cut out her eyes fluttered open. He saw the momentary panic before she remembered where she was and who she was with.

The elevator ride was made in silence, the team surrounding her as an impenetrable wall of protection.

Hotch directly in front so that when the doors inevitably opened for other staff Emily was out of their sight and he could glare them into waiting for the next car. Blake stood next to Hotch her own severe look firmly in place, JJ on her right, arm wrapped around her tightly, Rossi on the left hand resting in the small of her back the two of them keeping her upright. Reid and Morgan behind them.

When they arrived in the Bullpen, as per Hotch's order the only person present was Garcia who was waiting at the door to his office. When her bad knee gave out for the third time since getting out of the car it was only JJ's arm around her waist that stopped Emily and Keira from toppling to the floor. Emily knew she wouldn't be able to safely get any further while carrying the baby.

"Hotch" she called quietly her voice thick with sleep and tears. When he stepped up to her she stared at him for a moment before transferring the sleeping baby to his arms. He nodded at her once in acceptance of the trust she was showing him. He was the first person she'd allowed to touch the baby. Every silent offer Cooper and Alex had made on the train had been refused.

"This is Keira" she smiled weakly.

He studied the baby, noting the dark hair, eye shape and cheeks were all Emily. He wouldn't mention the chin, ears or nose.

"Hello Keira" he whispered holding the baby securely to his chest.

Content her baby was safe Emily turned and murmured to JJ "I could really use a shower". She needed to wash the last of Ian Doyle off her.

"Not a problem" JJ steered them in the direction of the change rooms "Can you grab her bag please?" she called up to Garcia.

20 Minutes later the three women made their way to Hotch's office. While still exhausted the shower and being able to dress in her own clothes seemed to have washed away some of the soul crushing weariness.

The sight of Hotch reclining in his chair with her tiny daughter sleeping soundly on his chest made her relax even more.

"I've changed her diaper and put her in a fresh romper. Sleep" he ordered has she lowered herself to the couch.

"Soon" Emily countered "she set her own schedule in stone early on and will want to be fed in 15 minutes."

He smiled in understanding and let the room drop into silence, he knew he couldn't push her, she would speak when she was ready. Out of the corner of his eye he could see JJ staring off into the distance, tears streaming down her face. He would find out what had happened in the showers later.

Meanwhile Emily studied him, Hotch wasn't a naturally trusting person. She was relying on that trait to keep them safe, she also knew he would have considered all possibilities and angles throughout the day and wanted to quickly ally any concerns he had about her loyalties.

"I'd known for months that he wouldn't leave the compound until he was sure I was broken." her gaze flittered over to stare as some non-existent thing out the window "He tried everything in the beginning, trying to punish me for Declan and then trying to find out where he was. The worst wasn't the branding, or the rape... the pain was over quickly and I could box it up…" her voice hitched slightly "the worst was when he'd pop my knee out of the socket and then just walk out... leave me... wait until the pain subsided and I stopped screaming before wrenching it back in. Over and over again... I don't know how many times. Now it just slips out randomly... doesn't even hurt anymore."

His jaw clenched and eyes burned as she continued on.

"I wouldn't give him Declan, I told him years ago I wouldn't raise a child to live the same life as him. He didn't give me a choice" her tired eyes dragged over to meet his "decided if I wouldn't help him find Declan then it was my job to replace him. Once I was pregnant he stopped touching me and I'd already stopped fighting by then… she was born but Ian didn't want a daughter, he wanted a son. He came back, not caring if I wanted it or not, I didn't fight it, just let him take what he wanted."

"Which is the only reason he was willing to leave you there alone" Hotch finished "He thought he'd finally won."

She nodded "He told me he was going to Ljubljana to meet with an old IRA contact. He said he'd be back in 4 days."

Feeling Keira squirm and shuffle slightly Hotch looked down in time to see her shove one tiny fist in her mouth and start sucking. Bright blue eyes - her fathers blinked sleepily up at him.

Without her having to ask he stood and handed the baby back just as her tiny face screwed up ready to cry.

"15 minutes on the nose" he noted before going back to his desk to work on the never ending pile of paperwork he'd ignored all day.

When he next looked up from his reports Emily was sound asleep as was Keira.

He stood as quietly as he could and walked over. Gently lifting the baby he transferred her to the port-a-cot and covered Emily with a blanket.

Moving out to the bullpen he saw the rest of the team along with Strauss standing waiting.

"Chief" His eyes scanned the bull pen quickly confirming there was no one who could overhear "Emily confirmed that Doyle left the country last night. He was headed for Ljubljana and would be returning in 4 days... now 3. Garcia see if you can confirm that?

"Yes Sir."

No one moved, all still looking at him expectantly "Emily's asleep and hopefully will stay that way for a while…"

"Hotch man" Morgan interrupted "we all know she's a mess and we're in for the long haul to get our Prentiss back. My question is… will we get her back?"

"Back to the BAU or back to the woman we called friend?" Hotch clarified "I am nowhere near ready to answer that. Keep in mind, she might not even want to come back to the Bureau. Here's what I do know. Dave was right when he said the baby was a surrogate for Declan. She was held captive and tortured both physically and mentally for more than a year. She has a lot of healing to do." Hotch turned to Strauss "Ma'am if we can speak in private please?"

* * *

Clyde Easter looked down the scope of his rifle. The message he had received from Hotchner had given him all the information he needed to close off this bloody awful chapter of their lives.

**E alive - safe - Doyle at 45.9738217,14.4132894. 48 hours.  
**

Focusing on his mark, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. In between the beats of his heart he squeezed the trigger.

For Sean… for Tsia… for himself.

For Declan.

For Emily.


	5. Zero

WARNING: Major character death x2

ZERO

She was the only one left to remember…

Hotch was in hiding with Jack, Rossi had retired again when he could no longer pass the fitness eval, Morgan left for the sake of his son, Spencer died in prison and Garcia had gone back underground after too many losses.

10 years since Emily walked out of the BAU and to everyone else there she was simply a photo on the wall. JJ was the only one left there that remembered… her best friend... their nerd with an enormous heart. Who loved Vonnegut, Russian sci-fi, chess, poker and laughed at Reid's Physics/Magic tricks with child like wonder. A Woman who loved them with her entire being.

Ian Doyle was long dead, Rossi had tried until the very last to find out what had happened to Emily but the arms dealer remained silent even as they executed him.

A hiker had found what was left of her body in the Northfield state forest. Her dental records flagged for immediate BAU notification.

JJ went up there and claimed the body.

"My sister" she'd whispered to the local sheriff. Sister in arms... sister in spirit.

Dave and Derek were waiting for her when she arrived back in DC with what remained of Emily Prentiss.

They buried her next to Spencer.

That night they drank with their dead friends… and ghosts of the past appeared.

Garcia with the green fairy and Hotch with her favourite beer. Dave contributed his best battle of scotch and Morgan brought the bottle of Tequila he won off her in the Halloween bet.

As the alcohol flowed JJ flopped back on the ground her head next to Emily's and stared up at the sky, Garcia on the other side of the freshly filled in grave.

"Spence… promise me you're looking after her…"


End file.
